The Violet Stone: Fresh Location, Familiar Favorites

What began as a food truck in 2022 has now evolved into a corpulent service restaurant, serving up some of St. Pete’s most talked about pizza and cheesesteaks. These days, The Violet Stone opened its doorways of their unusual dwelling in Crescent Heights, which now provides clients the possibility to dine interior their institution. Beforehand a takeout handiest space, this possibility by The Violet Stone has been met with hundreds enthusiasm from the neighborhood.

My husband and I procure visited the restaurant’s unusual dwelling two assorted times in the past couple of weeks. The important time used to be for dinner someday of the week and the 2nd used to be on the weekend for lunch. Each times, most every table used to be occupied and the takeout orders were fixed. Shifting to table service besides takout is no easy feat, namely when you detect your self as busy as The Violet Stone does on most days. Some rising disaster are to be anticipated, namely for a local identified for lengthy traces and frequent sellouts. After they in the foundation opened their unusual plight, The Violet Stone handiest offered table service for dinner. After about a weeks of getting their footing, the restaurant shifted to dine in and takeout for lunch and dinner. They staffed up, the menu used to be sophisticated and food production elevated in picture to meet the wants of their guests.

The unusual dwelling, which spans over 2,100 square feet, is a fundamental upgrade from the prior 800 square foot plight that The Violet Stone veteran to procure in Kenwood. Half of of the restaurant includes the dining room and the assorted half is devoted to their kitchen and waiting dwelling for takeout orders. The positioning is fairly high, sitting pretty at 2607 Dr. M.L.Ok. Jr. St. N. Parking is on hand in the rear of the constructing. They fabricate no longer take hang of reservations, seating interior is semi-dinky and the dining room stays consistently corpulent, so I fabricate counsel that you intend your discuss about with accordingly – trust me, this may maybe seemingly maybe presumably be payment it. An open air patio with tables will be an possibility in your dining trip and when the climate cools off, this seating space needs to be fairly supreme.

Since opening, The Violet Stone’s menu has gone by some adjustments. In the foundation, the menu boasted about a appetizers, pizzas, sandwiches (including the neatly-liked cheesesteak) and pastas. On the opposite hand, after their couple of bustling weeks in the unusual space, they like a flash realized that pasta prep used to be ingesting up too noteworthy bandwidth and this used to be never if truth be told their focal point. Attributable to this truth, pastas were removed and the restaurant can now focal point on their pizza and sandwich production.

Pizza and bread dough is made in dwelling day-after-day and begins in the wee hours of the morning. Because of they were promoting out with some frequency, dough production portions were elevated to place up with the seek data from. The dough that’s ready for the pizza is no longer technically pizza dough – it’s if truth be told bread dough. The pizzas are same to NY model pizzas, but they’ve the factors of a Neapolitan pie (flour, water, yeast and salt), but they are no longer a Neapolitan model pizza either. To be a Neapolitan pizza, hydration needs to be 70% and for NY, 60% – The Violet Stone’s dough is elevated than each. When baked, the pizza crust takes on a pleasant char. In case your pizza has any flop to it, the restaurant urges you to send the pizza again (this is even talked about on their menu).

As for sandwiches, the cheesesteak is the most viral, and for factual cause. Although, they fabricate procure some assorted creative sandwich choices love a chicken caesar, vodka parmesan and roasted pork – devoted to title about a.

When this unusual plight in the foundation opened, they handiest offered mushy drinks and had a $5 corkage rate for BYOB. On the opposite hand, it used to be devoted announced this day that they are now entirely licensed for beer and wine gross sales.

Sooner than this unusual plight, we had no longer had the pleasure of taking part in any of The Violet Stone’s choices; alternatively, we had heard heaps of mountainous issues. Upon arriving to the restaurant for the first time on a Tuesday at 5:00PM, we were stricken to search out the automotive car automobile parking space and the dining room corpulent along side the to-slide space of the restaurant. We were seated at indubitably one of the most final on hand tables at that point. Service used to be very rapid and ten minutes or so after our picture used to be submitted, our food began arriving.

The Violet Stone has about a starter choices on the menu and the Stuffed Longhots caught my spy. I was then told that this used to be indubitably one of the most newer choices on the menu and a mountainous one, at that. Two astronomical lengthy hot peppers are stuffed with mozzarella, sausage and ricotta after which baked and served with a facet of tomato sauce. The peppers procure devoted the appropriate quantity of heat without being too overwhelming and the exceptional tomato sauce is a nice touch.

Ordering a cheesesteak used to be a non-negotiable. The Violet Stone has about a to determine on between: shroomy with mushrooms, béchamel and American cheese and likewise a chicken and buffalo chicken variation. Assorted cheese choices are on hand for the cheesesteak as effectively: Cooper sharp American, Whiz or sharp provolone. Onions are also an on hand add on. The cheesesteaks are served on seeded rolls that are made in dwelling day after day. Many argue that The Violet Stone cheesesteak is the most easy one around, fingers down. After having one, I no doubt can no longer argue with that – it’s a if truth be told sturdy sandwich certainly. We made up our minds on the well-liked cheesesteak with Whiz and onions with a facet of dwelling made fries with cheese. The size of this sandwich is extremely beneficiant as the seeded roll is piled high with skinny pieces of purple meat, cheese and onions. The hype is real.

All pizzas on the menu are 16″. The important pizza that we tried used to be the Traditional with Mozzarella and tomato sauce and we opted to add cupped and charred pepperoni. This specific pizza is the epitome of less is more – the minimal but quality factors allowed the flavors in the crust to shine. I will roar, certainly, that this is one of the most most easy pizza around.

The following discuss about with to The Violet Stone used to be on a Sunday afternoon for lunch. We arrived shortly after they opened and snagged two seats at their dinky three seat bar space in the front of the dining room. It’s no surprise that by 11:30AM, the dining room used to be largely corpulent. We already had a recreation figuring out for our picture and we started with the fried mozzarella – hand breaded mozzarella served with their bianca tomato sauce. This used to be rapid to us by larger than about a of us. There are four astronomical slices of mozzarella per picture and it’s a exhausting dish no longer to love.

We wanted to search out one of the most assorted sandwiches extra and the Racy Vodka Parm used to be suggested to us by the team. It is made with chicken cutlets, appealing vodka sauce, mozzarella, pecorino and basil on that graceful dwelling made seeded roll. It’s pure indulgence as every bite delivers comfort.

Ordering but some other pizza used to be a need to so we asked for some steering. Our waitress, Olivia, told us that the Sticky Fingers with appealing vodka sauce, mozzarella, chorizo and hot honey used to be indubitably one of the most neatly-liked choices on the menu. This isn’t a pizza that I’d most incessantly gravitate towards, but I wasn’t disappointed in the slightest. In point of fact, I’m very chuffed that I stepped out of my comfort zone for this one.  The creamy heat of the sauce with the effectively off cheese, spice of the chorizo and the sweet and subtle sting of the hot honey compose a dauntless and addictive balance. You’ll be exhausting pressed to place your self from reaching for another reduce.

The Violet Stone’s evolution from food truck to corpulent-service restaurant is that if truth be told something to procure fun. With its unusual dwelling in St. Pete, The Violet Stone proves that enhance hasn’t changed what made it particular. It’s a local that’s vivid even brighter in its subsequent chapter.

Relaxed pizza joint serving pies, Philly Cheesesteaks and diverse comfort food.

Written by Abby Allen-Leach